Main News of March 8

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours.

WORLD

* The five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germanyexpressed their readiness to resume comprehensive talks with Iran, Press TV reported

* Japan reiterated that it will only sign a peace treaty with Russia if it returns the disputed Kuril Islands, the BBC reported

* British lawmakers have urged the government to impose an asset freeze and travel ban against Russian officials linked to the high-profile death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky in 2009, the BBC reported

RUSSIA

* NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen congratulated Russian President-elect Vladimir Putin his return to office and said that he looks forward to continued engagement and constructive dialogue

* Police detained about 20 activists in downtown Moscow, the Interior Ministry said

* Russia's envoy to the UN has accused Libya of running a training center for Syrian rebels combating the "legal government" of President Bashar al-Assad